Dominic Cummings criticised by Tory MP for ‘brutal’ attack on BBC

A Conservative MP has hit out at Dominic Cummings for his “brutal” attack on the BBC and accused him of having a “nasty streak” that will backfire on the party.

Huw Merriman, who is chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on the BBC, attacked what he called “ideological trench warfare” against the corporation, in a recent No 10 briefing.

An unnamed adviser vowed to “whack” the BBC by abolishing the licence fee and forcing it to sell off many TV and radio stations – an attack widely attributed to Mr Cummings, Boris Johnson’s chief aide.

Mr Merriman said: “Where I get concerned is the somewhat brutal way behind [his methods]. So the BBC is a good example of that.

“It’s fair enough to say we need to have a conversation about whether the licence fee is going to still be relevant in 2027. There’s nothing wrong with that. I agree with that conversation.

“But this whole thing about ‘whacking’, about ‘it’s got hundreds of radio stations, and we’re going to close them down’. It doesn’t, it has 63, and so, therefore, the facts aren’t correct.

“And there seems to be a sort of nasty streak behind some of these briefings. And if our whole mantra is to try and unite the country, after the difficulties we’ve had over the last couple of years – and this government has a mandate to do that – then I’m not sure why we need to be quite so divisive in the tone and language that we’re using. I just don’t think it’s going to end well.”

The comments come amid growing criticism of Mr Cummings, the former Vote Leave chief, over the hiring of Andrew Sabisky, who was forced to quit over his past comments about black people and eugenics.

It has also been revealed that he previously wrote that the NHS should pay for allowing parents to select babies to have higher IQs.

Experts described his theories – that the rich would otherwise be alone in inevitably selecting embryos – as eugenics and both unworkable and unethical.

In the interview, with parliament’s The House magazine, Mr Merriman defended the BBC, calling it a “much-loved British institution”.

He backed retaining the licence fee, while agreeing it was “absolutely right” that the funding model be debated before 2027, when the BBC’s charter is up for renewal.

And he acknowledged feeling “quite torn” about Mr Cummings himself, saying: “On the one hand, I like people that have original thought and ideas. They challenge the status quo.

“And, also, I think there’s a lot to lend itself to the point of ‘is the civil service actually currently working?’. So, actually, I think he’s a breath of fresh air as far as that’s concerned.”